Bordo also describes how advertisements can use biased and outdated gender roles to market their products. These ads end up "stabilizing" or reinforcing antiquated views of the role that women play in society. Many of the messages contained in these advertisements are nearly subliminal in that the viewer on a subconscious level with just a casual glance can perceive them. Bordo even suggests that these advertisements, whi

Another insecurity that companies marketing a product seek to exploit is a woman's need for efficiency and control in her life. Women often rely on familiar things in life for an escape from every day dilemmas. Advertisers have taken advantage of this need by promising that their products will give women the control that they seek. Bordo shows us two clear examples of this in her essay. One appears in a Maybelline eyeliner advertisement in which the caption reads, "control your line." The word "line" can easily be mistaken for life in this advertisement. Another advertisement for an adjustable perm has a caption that says, "Master your curls." According to Bordo one must learn to question the use of themes such as "control" and "mastery" in advertisements concerning that which is mundane.

ch "stabilize", not only reinforce but also may perpetuate the biased themes that are presented. In the "Men Eat and Woman Prepare" section of Bordo's essay examples are given of advertisements which stabilize the role of women as the food preparers who are meant to provide and serve food to a male whose role is to consume it. Bordo shows an advertisement for Log Cabin Syrup with a man serving his son pancakes. The caption tells us that the man is using Log Cabin Syrup because he is sharing a "special moment" with his son. The fact that this is a "special moment" suggests that this is not the man's usual role. If a woman had been featured the event might have been described as routine rather than special.

One advertisement I viewed was for EAS Nutrition Bars. It featured super- model Christie Brinkley in front of a cake. She sported a content look and had her head turned away from the delicious looking dessert. The caption reads, "No matter how loud the cake yelled Christie didn't seem to hear it." Here the advertiser is blatantly using a woman's obsession with dieting and physical appearance to sell their product. They show that staying away from fattening desserts is easy for the beautiful Christie Brinkley. All she needs is an EAS Nutrition Bar. Aside from the advertisement I can tell you from personal experience that an EAS Nutrition Bar can't come close to being as good as a tasty piece of cake.

Bordo also discusses that there are advertisements, which "destabilize" stereotypical gender roles as well. For example, an advertisement may feature a woman doing something a male would normally partake in such as voracious and indulgent ea

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Approximate Word count = 1664
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)